Filament-stapilizing machine, including grinding ring



May 15, 1956 FILAMENT-STAPILIZING MACHINE, INCLUDING GRINDING RING FiledJan. 12, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l U 14 14' 12 7 a 28 25 Q F191 U 7 13 f7 12IS /A ufiwml zumm 0 K*- V I I I :wm rok' I 23 24 2, 2,5,,2 fici cr'w 55hLilli/1i y 1956 R. STEIGER ETAL FILAMENT-STAPILIZING MACHINE, INCLUDINGGRINDING RING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 12, 1954 p/gd- United StatesPatent FILAMENT-STAPILIZING MACHINE, INCLUDING GRINDING RING RobertSteiger, Mnrl, near Bern, and Fritz Liithi, Zollikofen, Switzerland,assignors to Ing. A. Maurer S. A., Bern, Switzerland Application January12, 1954, Serial No. 403,519 7 Claims priority, application SwitzerlandJanuary 14, 1953 8 Claims. (Cl. 164-50) The present invention relates toimprovements in machines for cutting filament bunches, so-calledstapilizing machines, and for grinding the knives of such machines.

In known machines of this kind, the knives have to be reground aftercomparatively short periods, lest threads of excessive length beproduced, often or mostly caused by knives which have not been groundsharp or uniformly sharp. The machine has to be. stopped'for regrindingor, at any rate, for exchanging the knives, whereby the production.costs are raised.

The German Patent No. 674,105 discloses a filamentstapilizing machinewith rotary knives which are ground on a grinding ring during operationof the machine, between the single cuts of said knives.

This machine has the disadvantage that small grooves are formed in thegrinding ring and in the knives after a short period, because every partof the knives is ground along the same path of the avoid the formationof such grooves, the grinding ring may be moved in a direction extendingin parallel with the plane of its grinding surface during the operationof the machine. The grinding ring could thus oscillate in either onedirection or two directions perpendicular to each other. Such machinescannot be constructed easily since a substantial power would be requiredfor oscillating a grinding ring of to 100 pounds.

It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a filament-bunchcutting machine with at least one rotary knife, a grinding ring forgrinding said knife during operation of the machine, and means forradially reciprocating said knife of said grinding ring.

It is another object of the invention to connect said knife to aneccenter fixed onto a shaft driven by the same means which drive theknife.

Still another object of the invention is to mount the knives on acarrier fixed onto a quill shaft in such a way that the knives may moveradially with respect to said carrier. The shaft carrying said eccenterhereby extending throughout said quill shaft.

Still a further object of the invention is to arrange the grinding ringso that, on the one hand, its grinding width will be substantially thesame for every angular position of the knives, and, on the other hand,the length of the grinding path during one rotation of the knives willbe substantially the same for every point of the cutting edge of theknives.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will bemade more apparent as the specification proceeds.

In order to understand the invention completely, reference is directedto the accompanying drawing in which one embodiment of the inventionand' modifications thereof are represented. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a filament-stapilizing machine, partly in section,

Fig. 2 is a detail of Fig. 1 in a top view,

Fig. 3 depicts a modified detail thereof,

grinding ring. In order to "ice Fig. 4 illustrates a portion of agrinding ring, as seen from below,

Figs. 5 to 7 are sections on the lines V-V, VI--Vl and VIIVIIrespectively of Fig. 4. 7

Fig. 8 shows a detail of Fig. 1, as seen indirection of the arrow VIII,but on a larger scale, 7

Fig. 9 depicts schematically a detail of Fig. 3 as seen in the directionof the arrow IX,

Fig. 10 is a bottom view of the cutting nozzle or head, and

- Fig. 11 is a section on the line XI-XI of Fig. 10.

The stapilizing machine shown in Figs. 1 to 7 comprises a supplynozzle'or trumpet 1 to which are fed filament bunches 2 which have to bestapilized. The said bunches'may be of any cross-sectional shape. A jetof wateror air may serve as feeding means, as shown, or systems ofconveying rollers or tapes may' be provided for such purpose. Thetrumpet 1 leads to a cutting nozzle 3; a grinding ring 5 isfixedtoahousing 4 by means of screws 28. The nozzle 3 opens in the grindingsurface 25 of the ring 5. Two cutting means. 6 and 6' are carried by adisc 7, said disc serving as knife carrier and being fixed to aquillshaft 8. The cutting means 6 comprises a hard-metal knife 9 which isinserted in an intermediate member 10 which in turn is secured to arotatably mounted. axle 11. The latter is rotatably connected to aneccentric ring 12, as shown in Fig. 2. A spring 13 is supported on thedisc 7 and the axle 11 so as to press the knife against the grindingring 5 or the cutting nozzle 3.

The cutting means 6' is formed similarly to the means 6, and thecorresponding parts .have the same but apostrophied reference numbers.In the quill shafts is disposed a shaft 15 to which is secured aneccentric disc 14. A drive, not shown, through a bevel gear 22 drivesthe quill 8 which in turn drives the shaft 15 through the gear train 17to 20. The transmission ratios are chosen so that there is a slightdiiference in the number of revolutions, i. e. advantageously so thatthe shaft 15 rotates at a slightly lower speed than the quill shaft 8,but in the same direction, for example so that the latter rotates at1000 revolutions per minute and shaft 15 at 999 R. P. M. In such case,each cutting means is reciprocated once per minute. Any other practicalratio may be chosen of course.

The apparatus operates as follows:

The supply means advance the filament bunch 2, and the drive unit (notshown) drives the quill shaft 8. The shaft 15 is rotated through thegear train 17 to 20, as described. The quill shaft 8 rotates the disc 7and, thus, causes the cutting means 6, 6' to rotate. By varying thespeed of the drive unit or the rate of feed, the desired cutting speedand length of cut may be set. The shaft 15 and the eccentric discs 14,14 secured thereto cause -the cutting means to reciprocate so that thelatter are the grinding surface of ring 5 is the same in every radialsection of the ring, the resistance due to the grinding operation thusbeing constant.

The shape of the grinding surface shown in Fig. 4 is further so chosenthat the length of the grinding path along a circle concentric to ring 5is constant in order thatevery part of the cutting edges of the kniveswill be ground to the same extent. Thereby a uniform grinding action ofeach knife and a uniform wear of the grinding ring is obtained. Thelatter may be made of a material which is harder or softer than that ofthe knives to be ground. Such former material may be, for example, castsilicon or a plastic incorporating abrasive, such as 3 acid-proofplastic incorporating finely distributed diamond dust or siliconcarbide.

The idea of the invention is, of course, also applicable to machines inwhich the knife carrier is so arranged as to be adjustable vertically.

Figs. 3 and 9 show a portion of such a filament-bunch cutting machine.The elevation of the disc 21 may be adjusted by means not shown, wherebythe cranked axle 23 which is rotatable about the geometrical axis 24 ofthe cranked axle 23 and which carries at its end the cutting means 6 maybe moved above or below the cutting plane 25. As shown in Figs. 3 and 9,a torque arises when cutting a filament bunch (if the axis 24 is belowthe cutting plane 25) so that the knife is pressed harder against thecutting nozzle than against the other parts and portions of the grindingring. A small additipnal pressure may be desirable. In the case of thickfilament bunches, however, such pressure becomes excessive so that themechanism shown in Figs. 3 and 9 serves for adjusting such pressure tothe magnitude desired.

The disc 7 shown is provided with two cutting means. Any desired numberof knives may, of course, be provided, but they have to be symmetricallyarranged. If one cutting means only is provided, a suitablecounterweight has to be provided.

In the machine described above, a mere hole in the grinding ring 5 isused as cutting nozzle 3. According to the material used, there may,however, be a risk that the rim of such nozzle will break away sooner orlater which defect would give rise to a bad cutting action despitekeenly ground knives. Such drawback may be obviatedby shaping thecutting nozzle as shown in Figures l and 11 in which a plate 27 is fixedby screws to a tube 26. The plate 27 is slightly curved externallywhilst the grinding ring at the respective point is recessed, so thatthe knife edge is always supported. When the grindstone is wornsomewhat, the tube 26 has to be adjusted in such a manner that the rimof the cutting nozzle always is situated in the plane of the grindingring. Such adjustment is effected by adjusting means (not shown).

What we claim is:

1. In a filament-bunch cutting machine, the combination of at least onerotary knife, a grinding ring having a fiat face being in contact withsaid knife so as to grind the same during operation of the machine, andmeans for reciprocating said knife radially with respect to said flatface of said grinding ring.

2. In a filament-bunch cutting machine, the combination of at least onerotary knife, driving means for rotating said knife, a grinding ringhaving a flat face being in contact with said knife so as to grind thesame during.

operation of the machine, and means operatively connected to saiddriving means for reciprocating said knife radially with respect to saidflat face of said grinding ring.

3. In a filament-bunch cutting machine, the combination of at least onerotary knife, driving means for rotating said knife, a grinding ringhaving a flat face being in contact with said knife so as to grind thesame during operation of the machine, a shaft driven for rotation bysaid driving means, and an eccenter fixed on said shaft and connected tosaid knife.

4. In a filament-bunch cuttingmachine, the construction of a drivingquill shaft, a knife carrier fixed onto said quill shaft, at least oneknife held by said carrier and so arranged as to be radially movablewith respect thereto, a grinding ring coaxial to said quill shaft andhaving a flat face being in contact with said knife so as to grind thesame during operation of the machine, a driven shaft extendingthroughout said driving quill shaft and operatively connected thereto,and an eccenter fixed on said driven shaft and connected to said knifefor reciprocating said knife radially with respect to said flat face ofsaid grinding ring.

5. The combination of claim 4, in which the driving and the driven shaftare operatively connected together by means of a gear train.

6. The combination of claim 5, in which said gear train is arranged soas to drive said driven shaft in the same direction as the drivingshaft, but with a different speed.

7. The combination of claim 4, in which said knife is connected to saideccenter by means of an axle rotatably mounted on said eccenter, a coilspring urging thereby said knife into cutting and grinding position aswell.

8. In a filament-bunch cuttingmachine, the combination of at least onerotary knife, a grinding ring having a flat face being in contact withsaid knife as to grind the same during operationvof the machine, saidgrinding ring being so arranged that on the one hand the grinding widthof said ring is substantially the same for every angular position ofsaid knife, and, on the other hand,

the length of the grinding path during one rotation of the knife issubstantially the same for every point of the cutting edge of saidknife, and means for reciprocating said knife radially with respect tosaid flat face of said grinding ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,278,662 Lodge Apr. 7, 1942 2,339,765 Castellan Ian. 25, 1944 2,391,719Llewellyn Dec. 25, 1945 2,634,810 Cot Apr. 14, 1953 2,694,448 PatersonNov. 16, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 339,857 Great Britain Dec. 18, 1930674,105 Germany Apr. 5, 1939

